30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, July 24, 2017

Where It All Started

We all have to start somewhere. 1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs of trading cards I ever ripped into. Four years later, I would officially make the transition to baseball cards.That year, my parents and I took a trip to Seattle to visit my cousinKeith who was studying to be a dentist at The University of Washington. While we were there, we stopped at one of those sports stores that sold MLBlamps, NFL wallets, and NBAblankets. In addition to all of the officially licensed novelties, the shop also carried baseball cards.That's where my mom and dad purchased my very first baseball card set: 1981 Fleer.The set's design is average at best. There aren't any rookie cards of hall of famers. And it's never really held any significant monetary value. However when I was thinking about a card that reminded me of a family member for Tony's 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge, I immediately thought my mom and this set.A few cards popped into my head like the Fernando Valenzuelarookie card and the Phillies' Triple Threatcard featuring Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, and Larry Bowa, but ultimately I went with the base card of my favorite player at the time:

1981 Fleer #574

Back then times were simpler. I didn't think of cards in terms of values. I held them, arranged them, read them, and organized them. I can still picture myself sitting at the family room table watching the game with my A'steam set in front of me.1981 Fleer is a pillar of my childhood. It represents the first set I ever owned and whenever I see a card from it, I'm reminded of my mother and our trip to Seattle.Happy Monday and sayonara!

julie - fleer agreed with you. there's actually one more henderson in this set that's almost identically to this card. and you're absolutely right. i actually purchased unopened boxes of this product and built a hand collated set a few years ago. lol... can't remember exactly how much i spent, but it was probably 5x more than going out and purchasing a set on eBay.

shlabotnikreport - it's a simple design. but the more i stumble across singles in dime boxes, the more i appreciate it.

matthew scott & collecting cutch - 1987 donruss/topps would have been an excellent year to start collecting. there were so many great rookies to chase.

About Me

I've been collecting cardboard off and on since the early 80's. I'm presently collecting. But who knows what the future holds in store for me.
One thing is for certain... I'll have my blog to help relive some of my favorite hobby moments.